October 23, 2013 - Fourteen acres of uneven terrain at Seymour Lake Township Park was recently transformed into level and usable green space thanks to the donations and hard work of a variety of local businesses.

"This was all farm field at one point," said Ron Davis, director of the Oxford Township Parks and Recreation Department. "It was so uneven, you couldn't do anything with it."

But thanks to two weeks worth of work by the Oxford-based Saradan Construction and close to 4,000 yards of dirt donated and hauled by TKMS, a trucking company in Oxford, the 14 acres, located on the park's southeast side, will offer additional open space for everything from youth soccer and lacrosse to senior citizens flying remote control airplanes.

A gravel road connected to S. Coats Rd. was also installed. This will only be open during the annual Seymour Celebration, Davis said. The surface material for the road was donated by American Aggregate/Levy Co.

Other local businesses that donated their time, talents, materials and equipment to the project include Kennedy Surveying (Oxford), Sharpe Engineering (Oxford), Devil's Ridge Golf Club (Oxford), R&M Excavating & Paving (Dryden) and Tippett Excavating (Ortonville).

Had all the labor and materials not been donated, Davis estimated this project would have cost his department $110,000 to $115,000, "maybe more," to accomplish.

"We're really appreciative of what they did," he said. "If they wouldn't have done it, there's no way we could have done it. It just worked out well. It's neat to see when people get involved and give back."

"It just speaks volumes about the community, and the importance (it places on) recreation and kids," Davis added. "It's open space, but it's going to be used primarily for the kids."

CJ Carnacchio is editor for The Oxford Leader. He lives in the Village of Oxford with his wife Connie and daughter Larissa. When he's not busy working on the newspaper, he enjoys cigars/pipes, Martinis/Scotch, hunting and fishing.